Mendon family experiences shock, horror of Marathon finish

With her fiancé and brother-in-law at her side and pushing her daughter, Kayla, Kristine Biagiotti of Mendon was just steps from finishing the Boston Marathon on Monday.

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Posted Apr. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 17, 2013 at 5:03 PM

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Posted Apr. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 17, 2013 at 5:03 PM

MENDON

» Social News

With her fiancé and brother-in-law at her side and pushing her daughter, Kayla, Kristine Biagiotti of Mendon was just steps from finishing the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Seconds later everything changed - a nearby explosion had left her fiancé’s head bloody and the foursome scrambling to escape through the smoke.

“One minute he was running next to Kayla, holding her hand, and the next he was hit with shrapnel,” Biagiotti said of her fiancé, Brian Bridges. “He wasn’t even sure if he had an ear… blood was running down his face.”

Biagiotti and her daughter, who has a mitochondrial disease, were planning to become the first mother-daughter team in the race’s 117-year history to cross the finish line, but instead were met with horror.

“We stopped in disbelief when it happened,” Biagiotti said. “People were down in front of us and beside us and I thought ‘Oh my God, that was a bomb.’ I was exhausted at that point, but we just ran.”

In many news report videos, Biagiotti and her family can be seen crossing the finish line.

The family immediately went to the medical tent where Bridges was only briefly examined before Biagiotti said a flood of victims poured in.

“It looked like war injuries you’d see,” Biagiotti said.

Bridges, who lives in Mendon, did go to Milford Regional Medical Center when they got home and was treated for three small lacerations in his ear. He needed stitches, but doctors say he won’t lose his hearing or suffer any permanent damage.

Biagiotti said Boston was in complete chaos following the bombing.

Kayla, 18, whose condition causes a variety of symptoms including loss of motor control, muscle weakness and pain, developmental delays and respiratory complications, was supposed to be brought immediately to her nurse following the race, but Biagiotti said they became separated after the bombs went off.

“I couldn’t find my daughter for almost an hour,” said Biagiotti. Her brother-in-law had taken Kayla after she went to the medical tent with her fiancé. “When I found her, she was cold and needed fluids and medication.”

Biagiotti said they were lucky enough to get text messages to family and friends with them in the city before the cell towers went out. It took her family four hours to get out of the city after the bombings.

“A part of me is still in shock,” Biagiotti said. “I can’t believe this happened here, but part of me isn’t surprised. We live in a very sad world right now.”

Lindsay Corcoran can be reached at 508-634-7582 or lcorcoran@wickedlocal.com. For Milford news throughout the day, follow her on Twitter @LacorcMDN.